The General: David Sarnoff and the Rise of the Communications Industry

Early champion of home radio, creator of the first national broadcasting network and pioneer of color TV, RCA's president Sarnoff did more than anyone to bring electronic technology to the public, in the view of Bilby, a corporate associate. With empathy, he traces Sarnoff's life and career, the rise of RCA and its decline after Sarnoff's departure, and television's impact on the life patterns, cultural values and politics of Americans. The Russian-Jewish-immigrant wireless operator, a disciple of Marconi, rose rapidly to the presidency of RCA at age 39 and ruled for 35 years an empire that included the NBC network, manufacturing, RCA Victor phonograph and RKO motion pictures divisions. During World War II, RCA converted to defense production while Sarnoff as a reserve colonel, and later general, headed Allied communications in Europe. Postwar activity centered on color TV in fierce rivalry with CBS. In appraising Sarnoff's autocratic managerial style, Bilby makes comparisons with the Japanese who have the same kind of long-range commitment and perseverance.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is a perceptive account by a young American of one year as a teacher in a "Coloured" school in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town, South Africa. While lacking the long-term perspective of Joseph Lelyveld's Move Your Shadow (LJ 11/15/85) or James North's Freedom Rising (LJ 5/1/85), the book is a valuable presentation of the realities of apartheid. Finnegan does not offer solutions but describes his own growth in understanding the tremendous inadequacies of the educational system and the evil of the entire political system. A large part of the book describes the school boycott of 1980, which began in the Cape Flats. Finnegan's well-written stories of individuals seen through middle-class American eyes should appeal to many readers. Valuable for public and college libraries. Maidel Cason, Univ. of Delaware Lib., Newark
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.